Earnings Preview: Pier 1 Imports, Inc

Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE:PIR), together with its subsidiaries, operates as an importer and specialty retailer of decorative home furnishings and gifts primarily in the United States and Canada.

Pier 1 Imports is scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings results on June 14, 2012, before market open.

Technical Overview

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Pier 1 Imports has a market cap of $1.67 billion and it is currently trading around $15.27 with a 52-week range of $8.60 to $19.09. The stock has 9.62% price performance for the year 2012. The following table provides the key financial ratios for Pier 1 Imports:

Key Ratio

Value

Current Ratio

2.65

PEG

0.6

P/E

10.11

Forward P/E

11.57

Profit Margin

11.02%

Return On Assets (ROA)

21.56%

Return On Equity (ROE)

37.27%

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Recent News

On May. 31, 2012, Pier 1 Imports reported sales results for the first quarter ended May 26, 2012. Comparable store sales for the first quarter ended May 26, 2012 increased 7.2% compared with an increase of 10.2% for the first quarter ended May 28, 2011. Total sales for the quarter improved 7.9% to $361 million compared with $335 million in the year-ago quarter.

On April 19, 2012 Thomson Reuters/Verus resumed coverage for Pier 1 Imports with a BUY recommendation.

On April 16, 2012 Ford Equity Research downgraded Pier 1 Imports from FAVORABLE to NEUTRAL.

On April 14, 2012 Ford Equity Research upgraded Pier 1 Imports from NEUTRAL to FAVORABLE.

On April 9, 2012 Ned Davis Research upgraded Pier 1 Imports from NEUTRAL to BUY.

On April 6, 2012 Ford Equity Research downgraded Pier 1 Imports from MOST FAVORABLE to NEUTRAL.

Analyst Guidance and Earnings History

First-quarter revenue is expected to be $360.99 million compared with $334.60 million for the same quarter last year. Earnings per share for the first quarter are expected to be 16 cents a share, up from 12 cents a share in the year-ago period.

The average price target from analysts for Pier 1 Imports is $20.88 with the average rating OVERWEIGHT

Out of the last four quarters, Pier 1 Imports has met the EPS estimates all four times. The following chart shows the Analyst estimates history and the actual EPS results:

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Sources: Some of the data is taken from Google Finance, Yahoo Finance, Finviz and investor sites.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, but may initiate a short position in PIR over the next 72 hours.